Infected
by Rriannah
Summary: Someone in the VOCALOID family has been acting very unusual for the past few weeks. Everyone thought it was just a mood swing or something of the sort. But when Meiko, the eldest Japanese Vocaloid, finds him by the riverbank with agonizing pain, they all realize something much more sinister is going on.
1. Chapter 1

"What?"

"Really, no?!"

"That's not really true, right?!"

Meiko's ears perked up as she listened to the three other Vocaloids babble about something. The brunette's eyes darted over to Neru, Miki, and SeeU. They were all talking about something... Or someone... Being infected by a virus.

"Yes! It's very true! Someone in the Vocaloid Units got infected by this virus." Neru clarified. "It's pretty scary. What if we ended up like that?" SeeU wondered in fear. "Now then, who do you think got infected?" Miki asked curiously. Neru snorted. "I hope it's Miku."

"Hey, Miku is a nice girl. Why would you wish that?" Miki asked Neru. Meiko sighed at the Miku-bashing, and decided to go back to her room before something caught her in their conversation.

"Hey, have you noticed Kaito acting weird for the past few weeks?" SeeU asked. Neru thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. I remember one time at the dinner table, he had this blank look on his face." She said. "Then, he suddenly stands up and excuses himself just like that."

Meiko gulped. She also realized this while they were eating. Kaito didn't look like usual. He seemed unnaturally cold. His eyes were dull.. Not like the same shade of blue Meiko was used to.

"Hey, you three." Meiko suddenly called out. The three girls stood up immediately and stiffly saluted. "Y-Yes, ma'm?!" They all screamed in sync. "Have you seen Kaito?" Meiko asked.

"N-No. M-Maybe the others have? W-We tried going into his room earlier, but he wasn't there." Miki revealed nervously.

Meiko hummed. She stood up, and went to the living room where the twins, Luka, Miku, and Gakupo were possibly in.

"Ah, sister!" Luka greeted happily. She closed her book and smiled. "Welcome back."

"Hey, Luka." Meiko greeted with an equally giddy face.

Miku ran up to Meiko, screaming her lungs out. "MEIKO! MEIKO! Save me from those... Those evil PENGUINS!" She yelled out, climbing on top of Meiko. "M-Miku, calm down! What's going on here?" She asked.

"Hey, mommie-sis," Rin greeted cheerfully. "We're stealing Miku's spring onions."

"They're not leeks." Len added.

"Wanna join?" Both of them said together. Meiko closed her eyes, hitting the twins and Miku on the head with a paper fan. "Alright, you three. You've already burned the kitchen five minutes ago. I can't have you three killing each other on accident."

Miku pouted. "They burned all my spring onions!"

Gakupo laughed. Luka hit him with her book. "OWW!" Gakupo yelled. "Why must you brutalize me with your violence, woman?!" He yelled. Luka smiled. "Because your suffering is my entertainment."

Meiko sweat dropped, going back to why she was there in the first place. "Has anyone seen baKaito?" She finally asked.

Everyone went quiet. "No. I haven't." Gakupo replied. "And what is with that cruel nickname?" Miku shrugged. "Well, Meiko-sis calls big brother like that all the time."

"I haven't seen big brother eat a single cup of ice cream in a week." Rin replied. Len nodded with her, as he was there during the time.

"Last time I saw him, he just got out from the shower." Miku replied. "Is he not with you?"

Meiko shook her head. So no one has seen the innocent adorable young man anywhere. Meiko was worried.

Where was Kaito?


	2. Chapter 2

"I still don't get the 'baKaito' thing. Sure, the guy is gullible and all, but really?" Gakupo wondered for the fifty-first time. Luka just sighed at his stupidity. "Well, big brother is a bit... Unusual. A grown young man freaking out because of ice cream is pretty...Uh..." Luka struggled for words.

"Stupid." Rin finished.

Miku shook her head. "No. I think the word is 'moronic'?"

"Immature." Len clarified.

Luka let the three younger-looking Vocaloids to their pointless conversation and faced Gakupo again. "Where do you think big brother is right now?" She asked. Gakupo shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not his caretaker." He said casually.

"Doesn't it seem weird that no one looks worried about mister Kaito's disappearance...?" Haku asked uncomfortably, coming from the stairs. Luka's eyes softened. of course she'd ask that. After all, Kaito was the only person Haku would be comfortable of talking to. They had quite the sibling bond. Luka smiled. "This is their way of showing worry. No one is normal in this family of Vocaloids, after all."

Though Haku was confused, she just nodded and went back to her room.

Luka stood up and closed her eyes, coming up to try and pry the twins and Miku away from each other. Miku was strangling Len, and Rin was a human chair for Miku to sit on.

"Alright you three. Stop it." Luka said calmly, holding Miku by the waist and successfully parting her hands from Len's poor throat.

"THEY BURNED ALL MY SPRING ONIONS!"

"baKaito? ba-Kai-to-?" Meiko called out, already out from the building and into the large garden out back. She huffed. That stupid naive idiot man child. Where was he?!

_"What... Is... This... A-go-ny? Laughing at my misery..."_ a quiet, struggling voice sang in the tone of 'circle you, circle you'.

Meiko paused. What was that? "baKaito?"

When Meiko reached the riverbank, there was the blue-haired Vocaloid, right eye covered with his hand. He looked as if he was in pure white pain, small tears flowed out, as if he was being tortured from something he can't faint at. Meiko knew this wasn't a joke. She ran to him, taking him into her arms. "Kaito! What's going on?" She was panicking. She looked around, not knowing what to do. Kaito let out a strangled scream of pain, his hand retracting from his eye to the place where his 'heart' would be. He looked at Meiko with his vacant eyes, finally realizing that she was there.

"...Meiko...?" Kaito gasped out. Meiko's eyes widened. What is this...? She had to find help. Soon. She couldn't think of anything else. She screamed.

"HELP!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, hey. Did you hear that?" Len asked, looking out the window. "Someone was shouting: 'Help! Help!' outside the gardens." He added. Miku blinked. "Yeah. That sounded like Meiko-sis. Don't you guys think so?" She clarified for Len. Luka's eyes narrowed, while Gakupo's seriousness intensified.

A high-pitched yelp came from the door as the little body slammed on the floor. Rin panicked, and kneeled down to see if she was alright. "Ah! Yuki, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

Yuki Kaai, the youngest vocaloid, faced Rin with a teary face. "Big sister! Mommy Meiko's outside the door with big brother!" She announced with a wavering voice. Everyone gasped and ran out of the room, except for Luka and Len who watched with worried faces as they helped the poor 9 year old up.

"Kaito!/Brother!/ Kaito-bro!" Miku, Gakupo, and Rin yelled in sync, helping the Vocaloids of red and blue inside. (A/N: The dialog isn't in order, just to make sure you don't point it out) The other Vocaloids stared at the commotion, worry and surprise all over their faces. Haku ran up to her almost big-brother, almost on a verge of a break down.

"Someone... Call master!" Meiko yelled.

"Damn it..!" Master mumbled, slamming his hands on the desk. His eyes fixated to the screen, staring at the unconscious 'body' of his male Vocaloid 'son'. What was he to do? The virus was dangerous. It could harm the others if it gets too far. He had to switch Kaito's unit off to stop the pain. The other Vocaloids were scared. Scared for their brother, and scared that the virus would infect them too.

Meiko placed a hand on the master's shoulder. "Master... What's going to happen to Kaito?" She asked worriedly. the master gritted his teeth. "I don't know... This virus is totally new. I don't know how it got here, or how it got to Kaito's unit." he said grimly.

The other vocaloids gasped. "But... What will happen to Kaito-bro?" Rin asked, concerned. Gakupo's eyes narrowed. "Please say there will be a way to save him?"

master stayed silent.

Meiko tried to fight the tears back. "He'll be okay, right?" She asked, trying to stay positive. the master only buried his hands into his face. "I don't... Think I can promise that... I'll try my best." He replied. Meiko gulped, shaking. Miku was already crying.

"I don't like where this is going... Please save him, master!" She pleaded.

Neru glared at the teal-haired vocaloid. "Tch. Pretending to care." She muttered.

"What was that?" Miku asked Neru, not catching her words.

"Nothing."

Haku was silently crying and praying for her brother to be saved. After all, he was the only one willing to talk and care about her among all the vocaloids, aside from Luka, of course. But still, Haku was always closer to Kaito. She didn't know what she'll do without her positive brother around.

Mayu listened to everyone's sullen pleads and crying. She was sad too, but she knew that Kaito could be saved somehow. They just had to pray for it.

"Everyone... Please go back to your rooms for now. I'll have to run things on his unit to see the threat." Master said, a begging look in his eyes.

All the vocaloids left hesitantly, leaving Meiko, Haku, and Rin alone with him.

"What are you three still doing here? Please. I need to fix the unit now. I can't have you three being threatened, too." He said gently. Rin cried, sobbing. "Please save Kaito-bro, master!" She said finally, before dashing back to her and Len's room. But the master stopped her first, a few words thrown to her. A few words that sent her small little heart to break a bit again.

"Uh, Rin? I need you to separate from Len for... A while, alright?" he said. He didn't want both of the twins affected at the same time. Rin was about to protest, but she decided just to follow his words without another pipe. So she ran to another room crying.

Haku looked at Kaito; body connected to wires. Floating. Unmoving. She was scared that he'd be stuck like that forever.

"Haku?" Meiko called. Haku left from her trance. Meiko smiled. "You can go back to your room now, alright?" She said. "Kaito will be fine."

Haku nodded, walking back to her room.

Meiko frowned solemnly.

"Master..."

the master was too busy rummaging through the files on his computer, desperate for a way to save the vocaloid. "Damn it... The virus... 24%... It's getting stronger...!"

"Please save Kaito..." Meiko finally whispered, running back to Luka and Len to tell them the news.

Her tears did fall by the time she got back to her room.


	4. Chapter 4

Master rubbed his temples frustratedly. He tried everything he can. But the virus invaded Kaito's unit dangerously, and master was feeling hopeless. How was he going to help Kaito? He didn't even know what he was going to do.

"Damn it all... Damn it all...!"

He sighed. He stared at his 'son' 's artificial body for a while longer with pained eyes. He looked at the status: eyes narrowing.

_INFECTED FILES STATUS:  
><em>  
><em>Material: 26%<em>

_Voice bank: 10%_

_Files and movement: 34%_

_Memory: 40%_

Well, shit. At this point, Kaito was in even more harm than he realized.

Master's attention was caught by a red box on his computer screen.

**WARNING: This unit virus is very contagious to various files. System Lock Down?**

A simple yes or no question.

Master felt sorry for the other Vocaloids. But this was for their own good.

He had no choice.

* * *

><p>The Vocaloids, each into their own rooms, stared at the speaker on the top of the door. They were all waiting for some kind of announcement.<p>

What they weren't expecting was the red alarm to glow a bright red. The doors got locked, and there was no way out. Each form of entertainment that involved Vocaloid files was shut down. They were all scared.

"Oliver... I'm scared..." Yuki murmured, hugging deeper in the twelve-year-old's chest. Both of them were supposed to share a room since they didn't need much space. To make matters worst, it was dark.

Meiko's eyes widened when she saw the door of her room lock her in. "Hey... What's going on?!" She ran to the door, banging on it. "Master...?! What's... Why are we on system lock down?!"

He never put them on lock down unless something very bad was happening.

"Master...?!"

_"Meiko?" _Master's voice echoed in her headphones. _"Will you listen carefully? Kaito... He's... not doing too well. Almost half of his whole file is corrupted and his memory bank is getting worse. I'm going to test something out. Then, come here afterwards. Alright?"_

"Wait!" Meiko yelled out. "Why are we on lock down? Surely it can't be that bad, right?" Meiko asked painfully. She had her fingers crossed on this one, but for some reason, master never replied back with a positive response.

_"Meiko, please..."_

It was quite obvious.

Meiko sank down on the floor, trying to hold back her tears.

Kaito's condition was getting worse..

* * *

><p>Kaito woke up in the production room. He noticed many wires connected to him, and he felt rather drowsy. His eyes locked on the young man in front of him.<p>

"Kaito?" He called. "Do you know who I am?"

Kaito wasn't sure why he was asking him this. "Well, of course I do. You're... Master..."

The master sighed in relief. He still had some of his memories in there. "Good. How would you like to... Uhh... Play a game?" He asked hesitantly. Master thought that he should test Kaito's voice bank if it was still in tact. Master didn't want to lose hope. There must be a way, after all.

"A game?" Kaito repeated. Master nodded. "The game is a question game. Just test it out?"

"O...Okay?" Kaito replied, not sure what to do with the situation.

"What's your name?"

"Kaito." That was a pretty obvious question, after all.

"When were you born?"

"February 17." _(1)_

"What do you love to eat the most?"

"Ice cream!" Kaito replied with enthusiasm.

Master nodded to himself. So far, so good.

"Who are your siblings?"

Kaito couldn't reply to that. He remembered some of them... But for some reason, he just... Forgot who the others are.

"M..Meiko... Rin... Len... Luka... Uh.."

Master's eyes filled with slight horror.

"I... I don't know..."

* * *

><p><strong>Kaito's birthday date was found out in project Diva f2nd. February 17. :D <strong>


End file.
